[February 20, 2014]

Study Identifies Ways to Help Healthcare Workers Boost Retirement Readiness

Lincoln Financial Group's Retirement Plan Services business announces results of a study examining the savings mindsets and behaviors of retirement plan participants in the healthcare sector¹. As part of the Lincoln Retirement Power® research series, the healthcare participant engagement study identifies unique characteristics of healthcare workers and provides valuable insights for organizations seeking to improve the effectiveness of their retirement plan offering.

Compared to workers in other industries, key study findings show that healthcare workers are more likely to:

• Be motivated by positive life events and outlooks. Hope influences 93% of healthcare workers - specifically, the hope of accumulating enough money by the time they retire.
• Seek input from a wide variety of sources. These information gatherers also report they have a hard time making decisions including whether to participate in a plan, how much to defer and how to direct their investments.
• Be more concerned than others about meeting basic financial needs. 62 percent of workers are concerned about being able to pay for day-to-day expenses, compared to 49% of workers in other sectors.
• Get retirement information from financial professionals. When asked which of several options would motivate them to make positive changes in their retirement savings plan, three in five healthcare workers select a one-on-one, in-person meeting with a financial professional as their first or second choice. Two in five select in-person group meetings at their workplace.
• Save up to their company match. While these savers are taking full advantage of an available match, they report that they do not save beyond their employer match.

"The study's findings provide relevant insight on effective methods for plan sponsors to connect with healthcare participants in a more meaningful way," said Chuck Cornelio, President, Retirement Plan Services, Lincoln Financial Group."This research can help plan sponsors work with their providers to structure a retirement plan program to engage and motivate healthcare workers to participate fully and, ultimately, help boost their retirement readiness."

Based on the study, healthcare employers can consider the following suggestions for engaging employees to save in their employer-sponsored retirement plan:

• Develop a retirement communications program that highlights positive messages, focuses on outcomes and educates plan participants about how to meet their daily expenses while also saving for the future.
• Offer retirement education and one-on-one meetings with a financial professional during work hours - preferably in a few different time slots - to reach employees when and where it's convenient for them.
• Optimize plan participation through automatic plan provisions, such as auto-enrollment, and auto-escalation.
• Provide access to an IRA for supplemental savings and offer retirement communications that provide education on the importance of saving at least up to the company match.

To learn more about how healthcare organizations can increase the effectiveness of their employer-sponsored retirement plans, read the Lincoln Retirement Power ® Participant Engagement Study white paper, "Seeking Financial Health: How Healthcare Workers Participate in Retirement plans."

About Lincoln Financial Group's Retirement Plan Services:

For more than 60 years, Lincoln Financial's Retirement Plan Services (RPS) business has been helping savers boost their retirement readiness through employer-sponsored plans. Our distribution force of more than 400 professionals, including institutional and wholesale distribution channels and advisor-based sales teams, work to provide plan sponsors with retirement plans that not only meet the unique needs of their plan participants but also align with sponsors' total rewards strategies and help recruit and retain top talent. RPS Retirement Consultants, available onsite, online and by phone, develop long-term one-on-one relationships with savers to help motivate them to take actions that lead to better retirement outcomes. RPS offers personalized services, solutions and education to help plan participants get to and through retirement. The business serves approximately 1.4 million participants through 22,000 plan sponsors with $52 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2013.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its affiliates. With headquarters in the Philadelphia region, the companies of Lincoln Financial Group had assets under management of $207 billion as of December 31, 2013. Through its affiliated companies, Lincoln Financial Group offers: annuities; life, group life, disability and dental insurance; employer-sponsored retirement plans; savings plans; and comprehensive financial planning and advisory services. For more information, including a copy of our most recent SEC (News - Alert) reports containing our balance sheets, please visit www.LincolnFinancial.com.

¹ Lincoln Retirement Power® Participant Engagement Study, Lincoln Financial Group 2012

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